Cold War Vocabular

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1. Cold War• A struggle over political

differences between the United States

(Democracy and Capitalism) and the

Soviet Union (Communism and

Socialism) in which both countries lived on the

brink of nuclear war until the collapse of the Soviet

Union in 1993.

2. Korean Conflict (War)• This conflict was fought from

1950 – 1953 in a country being armed by Soviet Union who urged the population to

adopt communism. President Truman sited the “Domino Theory” sending troops to help. After three years of

bitter fighting, the struggle ended in a stalemate.

3. Vietnam Conflict (War)• This conflict was fought from 1955 – 1975. It was the longest and bloodiest Cold War conflict.

The U.S. intervened in this country to help stop the spread

of communism into Vietnam. The conflict met with bitter

protest in the U.S. & the conflict ended in a cease-fire agreement. It was a crushing & embarrassing

defeat for the United States.

4. Cuban Missile Crisis• This was the most dangerous

Cold War dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1962 the S.U. allied themselves with the Cuban communist dictator, Fidel Castro, and placed atomic missiles pointed strait at the U.S. in Cuba. Soviet Premier Khrushchev refused to remove the missiles, so President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba to stop any supplies from going in or out. After 13 tense days, the Soviets backed off and dismantled the missiles.

5. Bay of Pigs• On April 17, 1961, 1,500 CIA trained Cuban exiles & American troops landed at the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba with the intent

of capturing & removing Fidel Castro from power. Wanting to

keep the mission low-key, President Kennedy called off air support without the knowledge

of the commanders on the ground. Poorly planned, within days, Cuban forces crushed the

invasion & captured the survivors.

6. Embargo• An order, usually

proclaimed by a president or the government of a

country, to prohibit trade with another

country. • Ex: After Cuba allowed the Soviet

Union to place missiles trained on the U.S., President Kennedy placed an embargo on their country which lasted for several years.

7. “Baby Boom”

• A marked increase in the

birthrate, especially in

the US following

WWII.

8. Universal Declaration of Human

Rights• Eleanor Roosevelt was the first

woman to represent a country when she was sent to represent the United States at the newly

created United Nations following WWII. Eleanor played a vital role in expanding the rights of people

all around the world when she was given the position of

“Chairman” over a committee that would write this important U.N. document still cited today.

9. G.I. Bill of Rights• As soldiers returned home

following WWII, the government began discussing

ways to help them. First known as the servicemen’s

Readjustment Act of 1944, this bill offered money for college

or job training, low or no interest loans to buy homes or

businesses, and unemployment benefits to

military veterans.

10. Capitalism

• An economic system based

on private property and

free enterprise.

11. Communism• An economic system in

which all goods are owned jointly; in the Soviet

Union, this developed into a government in which all social and economic policy decisions were made by a single party. Free speech

was not allowed.

12. Containment Theory (of

Communism)• The policy or process of preventing the expansion of a hostile power (mainly communism).

• The US wanted to stop the Soviet Union’s expansion through limited military and non-military means in areas of the world that were of strategic importance to the US. This policy caused the United States to become involved in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.

13. Blockade• To cut off an area or country

by means of troops or warships to stop supplies or

people from coming in or going out; to close off a

country’s ports. • Ex: In order to enforce the

embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, for allowing Soviet missiles to be placed in their country, the U.S. created one of these with our navy ships.

14. North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO)• On April 1949, the U.S., Canada,

and 10 Western European Nations signed a pact establishing this pact

of member nations. Stating an armed attack against one (of

member nations) shall be considered an attack on all. To

defend against a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe, these countries created a large military

force.

15. Warsaw Pact

• This organization was established in 1955 by mutual

defense treaties (mostly in response to the formation of NATO). The Soviet Union controlled a

military force under this agreement and pledged to aid communist nations. With the creation of this organization, Europe was divided into two

armed “camps.”

16. Berlin Wall• After WWII, Germany was partitioned into

zones which were occupied in the West by democratic and capitalist nations and in the East by the communist Soviet Union. Berlin was also

partitioned into like zones. • In the years following, a steady flow of people

fled from East Germany to West Germany hoping to escape Soviet oppression. However,

on August 13, 1949, East Germany’s government closed the border between East & West by

building a wall of concrete blocks and barbed wire around the capital.

• Soviets posted armed guards along the wall to stop East Germans from fleeing to the West and

cut off communication and trade between to the Eastern portion of the German capital.

17. Iron Curtain• The symbolic

metaphor given to describe the

political and military barrier that isolated

Soviet controlled countries of Eastern Europe from the rest

of the world following WWII.

18. United Nations

• On June 26, 1945 in San Francisco, California 50

Nations, including Soviet Union, signed a charter

creating this organization. It was hoped this

organization would settle disputes between nations and prevent future wars

through negotiations and by use of “peace keeping”

forces.

19. George Marshall

• The United States instituted this man’s plan, The Marshall

Plan, after WWII. It provided for massive

financial aid to rebuild European economies and

prevent the spread of communism.

20. Eleanor Roosevelt

• Her life reflected her commitment to public service in our country and throughout the

world. Married to FDR, she became known as the First Lady

of the World. She served a delegate to the United Nations

and kept on with her humanitarian work; always

fighting racial injustice, women’s equality, and working

tirelessly for social reform.